Sacrifice of Angels

[Zak Dymo]

The Pantoran's larger frame sagged against the smaller youngling for a moment.

He tasted blood in his mouth. Not from fighting with the Gamorrean. The boy had been trained to strike first, strike fast, and see the fight to conclusion quickly. As such, the Gamorrean had never had an opportunity to fight back. It had gone down before it had realized the totality of what was happening, and was dead before it could have reacted fact enough to have prevented that fact. No, the blood was from the damage that channeling Dark Side caused the body. It was one thing to passively tap into or shape the Force through the emotional connection. But Dark Rage was violent. It tore open the wounds of the soul in order to forcibly grasp the Force and will it into becoming a weapon.

In so doing, it broke apart some facets of the Darksiders own being.

Reaching out to take hold of the doorway, the blue-skinned tween set one foot underneath himself and struggled to rise up from the floor. "Boo," the boy answered finally, swallowing as he caught his breath.

Holding his head up, the boy paused to try and stretch out with his feelings. To see without his eyes. To feel the presence of enemies unseen, as his former master had taught him. It was part of how the Pantoran had learned to move without notice. To know where to step so that only the shadows would note his passing. "They're on the move," he murmured after a moment, staggering as he started down one side of the corridor. "Not toward us... something has them distracted."

Ren?

The mission commander?

"Come on," the boy said, starting toward the light at the end of the tunnel.

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"]​

 

[Ren Colvet]

[member="Norah Kitts-Castillon"]

Ren knew they would fire at him eventually, but still, he hadn't had expected them to just stare at him for five whole minutes. He would have acted before them if it were not for his belief that those who attacked first normally got caught off guard quicker. It wasn't always true of course. But Ren wasn't willing to take any chances.

The barrage of blasts were easily deflected by his swift movements, and Ren couldn't help but feel that the two were soon gonna be very sorry that they had attacked this ship. After successfully blocking their assault, he proceeded to run towards the two, while holding the saber so that the blade was facing the opposite direction he was running.

And then, after blocking their persistent shots, he dragged his lightsaber up from behind him and slashed up the chest of one of the pirates. It felt cold.

Taking a life.

It was something he had never done before, Ren didn't like the feeling it brought. But it wasn't the time to dawdle on such trivial things. So with considerable grace, he turned to the right, and briskly jogged towards the other pirate, with a great lunge, he plunged his sword into the bandit's chest. He let out a loud yelp before his head sank, his dead face, inches from being fried.

Ren pulled out the blade and looked at the corpse. His face contained a mixture of sadness and fear, it was haunting. The disturbed Ren snapped out of his thoughts quickly, then made his way towards the other Younglings. And the red-head.

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

Uncertainty crept into Théo mind, a strange feeling came from the young boy. But regardless Théo helped him out, he could see no real reason not too, especially since he had set him free, he owned the blue boy that. "Boo", he repeated, "That is an unusual name", he said without much thought, besides even in his young life Théo had seen many races of people with strange names, he would seem strange as well he thought afterward.

"We had better get going while they have their minds on something other than us. We need to get back to our ship, and see if the others are alright". Théo kept his arm around Boo as they limped along the corridor. "How did you .. kill that guy", as least thought it to be a guy. The guy had to be dead, since no one is coming after them just yet. "Is that... is that his blood?".

[member="Boo Chiyo"]

Spoiler

Apologies for the short post and late reply, a bit behind all over the place. RL .. <_<

Spoiler

 

[Zak Dymo]

"Theo would be an unusual name for a Pantoran."

The youngling spoke softly, keeping his voice to a whisper even as he responded to the boy's statement in jest. Pantoran given names were usually rather simple in comparison to humans. Toro, Chi, Ion.

Family names, on the other hand, could become quite the complicated affair in terms of vowels and syllables. Papanoida, for example.

As he caught his breath, the tween was able to stand on his own, even though he kept the smaller boy in arm's reach as the pair moved down the corridor. It opened up to a circular area, out of which more corridors branched, in what appeared to be a central processing center that was now an ad hoc detention block. Slipping away from the smaller boy, the Pantoran cautiously approached the controls.

This wasn't a ship. It was some kind of refueling or supply depot. The 'cells' they had occupied appeared to be part of a temporary holding facility that had once been intended for use by the Galactic Republic Judicial Forces. Which, how old was that concept? Perhaps as old as the founding of Ord Janon, or any of the 'Ord' colonies that had cropped up in a time long, long ago. And a universe so different from the one they lived in now that it might as well have been a galaxy far, far away.

At the question about how he'd killed the guard, the boy didn't answer. There were things about the Force which people were better off not knowing, or understanding. Or even forgetting, if that was possible. "Yes," he finally offered, when confronted with the fact that he wore the guard's blood like a war trophy.

"Looks like our ship is three decks below us," the Primeval agent remarked, changing the subject as he looked up from the limited read-out on the console in front of him. "If I can get to its comm panel, I can get a transmission to Laekia."

Assuming the ship that they brought here might not be in a condition to make that flight, the transmission could bring the Equinox here from Oswaft Station. And R3 could bounce the message to Voss as well, so that they could get help from the Antarian Rangers.

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"]​

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

[member="Boo Chiyo"]


"Firstly we have to get out of this place. I don't think the vents are a good choice, they might be charged considering where we are", Théo thought aloud. Boo had a strange sensation around him, one Théo had never felt before. Having training in force awareness, he used it to the best of his youthful ability and could only reach a limited way ahead of them. But the boy next to him was easy enough. It was almost sickly, as if he was ailing of something that Théo did not know of. Théo did not realise it was his first experience with the dark side, all he knew was that it began to make him feel bad.

"Are .. are you ok?", he finally asked, thinking the boy was about to throw up. "Can you get through this door?, I think it is only hope".

 

[Zak Dymo]

Are you okay?

The young Pantoran eschewed the honest response for a more practical lie. "I'm fine," the youth answered, without any thought, as he produced the identicard he'd taken from off the Gamorrean's corpse and began to key the door controls. As the door slid away, the tween tucked into the frame of the door to try and conceal his presence from clear view of the corridor on the opposite the passage that had just been made clear.

A Trandoshan and a Gamorrean stood idly at the far end of the passage, each looking back as the sound of pressurized hydraulics betrayed the activation of the door.

With one hand, the Pantoran pushed the smaller Valkyri to the ground. The other, he stretched outward in the same moment in which the two guards had snapped into motion. The blaster, which the Trandoshan had sought to bear upon the pair, fired -- bolt ricocheting wildly -- as the weapon was pulled by some invisible force from the man's grasp. The chill surrounding the blue-skinned boy became uncomfortably cold, spreading outward like a long shadow as the tween manipulated the Dark Side to telekinetically disarm the guard. Catching the weapon with both arms, the Pantoran dropped it to his feet. Kicking it with the back of his heel, he slid the weapon across the deck behind him toward the young Heavenshield.

Bringing both hands up, the tween adopted the loose, open T-stance of Teras Kasi. With a series of circular arm movements, the boy stepped forward to meet the charging Gamorrean that was readying a vibro-ax. Stepping into a pushing motion, frost spread across the walls, ceiling, and floor as the Pantoran extended the Force forward. As though running full force into a wall, the Gamorrean's sprint was suddenly halted with a meaty smack.

Stepping through with the motion and momentum he had gathered, the boy brought his forward arm down and back, as he brought the one that had been behind it out and around. In time with the wave-like motion, the Trandoshan was lifted up before slamming into the side of the passageway. Taking a half-step back, the Pantoran pulled his arms from the right side to the left, then stepped forward again as he thrust both arms upward. As he did, the Trandoshan bounced from the one wall to the next, then up against the ceiling, before finally dropping like dead weight onto the floor of the corridor.

Standing over the two still forms for a moment, the Pantoran finally stole a glance behind him to motion toward the other boy. "Come on," he beckoned, trusted that the young one would have the good sense to pick up the blaster. And the wherewithal to know how to use it.

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"] | [member="Ren Colvet"] | [member="Norah Kitts-Castillon"]​

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

[member="Boo Chiyo"] | [member="Norah Kitts-Castillon"] | [member="Ren Colvet"] ​

​

The wind was knocked out of him as Boo shoved him to the floor, immediately natural instinct had Théo placed his arms over his head, but he continued to watch. His eyes fixed on Boo, and that sickening feeling once more he felt in the pit of his stomach. The force strong in Boo, the darkness summon with rage. Théo's hand quickly reached out for the blaster as it slid toward him, his own instincts kicking in as the butt of the blaster hit his palm. He remained on the floor as he took the blaster in both hands and aimed, but he could fire, Boo was in the way and it is to dangerous just in case a stray bolt would hit his friend.

The last of the men Boo controlled through the force, his body hitting the wall with a gut curdling crush and to the ceiling before falling to the floor in a lump. Dead most likely, the two of them. Théo felt fear, he is scared not only for their plight but witnessing the effects of the force and what one can do with it to hurt others may him frightened, whether it was the use of the darkside or light, the power of it enormous. At this moment, Théo understood he has this ability to be able to destroy as well as protect. Something in time, he will come to terms with.

He scrambled to his feet and ran up the corridor to Boo. It would only be a matter of time before others would come, they would have heard this. Théo checked the blaster making sure it was set to kill, his lesson with the rifle serving him well, he remembered everything from that day and knows how to use it. Now at least he has a weapon, and he feels less useless.

"Ready when you are", he said with a more serious tone, for the first in his life he would take another if necessary.

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"] | [member="Boo Chiyo"] | [member="Ren Colvet"]


Norah was stuck in a glorified janitors closet with a bunch of younglings. As she appeared to be the oldest, the red head had positioned herself at the front of the pack, near the door. Most of the youngest were huddled around the back. It seemed a good idea to use the oldest of them for protection. She doubted the little kids could do much anyways.


At least they weren't crying.


Norah kept her ear to the door, listening. It was silent for the longest time, maybe some distant, muffled noises. Now it sounded like someone was walking towards them. It didn't sound like a lot of people. Maybe one or two. She couldn't tell...her spy skills were rusty. Norah used to hold her ear to the door to listen in on her Mom's conversations.


"Gimmie that"


Whispering, she pointed to a broomstick in the corner. Just your average stick. It was passed to the redhead and she gripped it tight, mentally preparing herself. When she felt ready, another kid opened the door by holding the two wires together (hot wired, remember!).


Suddenly, a skinny redhaired terror would emerge with a broomstick, swinging wildly at whoever was making the footsteps.

 

[Zak Dymo]

The young Pantoran skulked through the corridors of the station.

There was a remarkable amount of things he didn't know about where they were, or who had attacked them. The Gamorrean and Trandoshan suggested a group with possible connections to the Hutt Cartel or the Black Sun. Slavers? Out this far?

Stealing glances back, the blue-skinned spy kept one eye on the young Silver Jedi behind him even as he focused ever onward.

He had a plan. Or, at least, he had the beginnings of a plan. That was a start if nothing else. It remained to be seen whether that much would come to fruition, or if they would be mired in the desperate trap which had necessitated an 'anything goes' approach to escape. Making it up as they went, relying on one part luck and the other divine providence.

Assuming, that is, that the divine was still on their side. He didn't want to think of just how many prayer times he'd missed by now, and there hardly seemed opportunity to take a knee in the near future.

The Pantoran assassin jumped back as a door suddenly sprang open beside him. He caught a flurry of motion and reacted on instinct, bringing one forearm high as it registered that some kind of baton was swinging at him. The blow connected solidly with his arm, the moment allowing him time enough to see that his attacker wielded some kind of staff. The exact details of this attacker were lost in the fog of war. Small. Slight in stature.

The weapon had more of the boy's attention. With his other arm, he punched outward with the flat of his palm striking toward the center of the staff -- his intent to try and snap the dowel in two if he was able.

It was then that the flash of red caught his eye. Blinking, the boy realized he was staring down at the girl from the shuttle.

Jerking back, the Primeval agent stopped himself before either might have continued the fight. "Are there others?" the youth blurted aloud, looking hurriedly up and down the hallway. "Have you seen Ren?"

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"] | [member="Ren Colvet"] | [member="Norah Kitts-Castillon"]​

 

[Théodred Heavenshield]

[member="Boo Chiyo"] | [member="Norah Kitts-Castillon"] | [member="Ren Colvet"]​

​

As quick as a flash, Théo had the blaster pointed at the being wielding a stick, his finger had squeezed the trigger but did not engage. As soon as the identity of the broomstick kid emerged, he relaxed and even managed a smile. "Good to see you are alright", he said to the girl.

"What.. what happened?", his question mainly focused on who and how the Redheaded girl and Ren had got away or dispatched their captors. He was still not that sure how Boo and he, had been taken away. But that did not matter now, at least they had found someone they knew.

"We had better find somewhere to get a message away, I am sure we will have company again soon". He looked back down the corridor, his force senses telling him he was right.

 

[Zak Dymo]

~ EPILOGUE ~​

​

Reunited, the unlikely team of a Primeval Dark Force witch and the son of Heavenshield, along a non-Force Sensitive who had proven herself equally capable as the company she kept, led the younglings through the three levels of the abandoned outpost in which they had found themselves.

In the many centuries between the Old Republic and the current galactic era, this station had served as a communications relay and re-supply depot for expeditions launched by the old ORD colonies. Ord Janon. Ord MIrit. Ord Pyros. Forgotten of by the time of the Clone Wars, the station no longer appeared on star charts in the modern day -- making it an ideal hiding spot for pirates of the Outer Rim, who could prey upon nearby ships without fear of being discovered.

What the pirates apparently had not counted on was the repercussions of attacking a FrontierCorps shuttle. Namely, the capture of two young Jedi, a former Sith Acolyte, and one brave girl.

Ren's lightsaber brandished as the weapon of all the Jedi Knights who had gone before him.

Theo's resolve behind the blaster a testament to his Valkyri ancestors.

Nora's quick thinking and level-headedness demonstrating courage well beyond her years.

And the Pantoran witch-boy, whose compassion was starkly contrasted by the deadly cold -- a Dark Side aura steeped in the blood which painted the passageways as he risked leading them all into Hell for some sliver of hope to escape.

When they had arrived at their destination, it had been Nora who had discovered that the engines of the Niathal shuttle were no longer operational. Whatever ion cannon that the pirates had wielded against them, the internal circuitry of the hyperdrive had melted down to lead. Communications, however, were still possible. While Ren and Theo held the pirates at bay, Norah and Boo worked to send a coded transmission toward the nearby world of Laekia.

Despite their valiant efforts, the four young warriors found both themselves and the younglings over whom they kept watch, pushed back against the edge of the shuttlebay -- with a magnetic shield at their back all that separated them from the vacuum of space. The Pantoran's Sith lightsaber recovered from the Niathal, it was an odd harmony where Sith red and Jedi green worked in unison rather than opposition. Theo and Norah, armed with blasters, held the line for all that it was worth.

It was a line on the verge of breaking, when heavy blasters were fired over the children's heads.

From its berth at Oswaft Station, the Primeval transport Equinox had arrived with R3-M9 at the helm. Soaring through the barrier, the droid controlled Star Courier hammered away at the interior of the shuttlebay with the armaments of the Sith Interceptor. Touching down lightly on the deck, the droid positioned the ship between the younglings and their attackers -- dropping the back hatch so that the children could board from a position of shelter.

And then they were off, sliding out into the sea of stars to make their escape into hyperspace. But the story would not end there. For this was merely a beginning.

​

The Young (Non) Jedi Adventure Continues...​

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[member="Théodred Heavenshield"] | [member="Ren Colvet"] | [member="Norah Kitts-Castillon"]​